Stovetop burner covers

ABSTRACT

Removably covered stove top assemblies and methods of removably covering a stove top are disclosed. The stove top assemblies include rectangular panels being magnetized on at least one edge. Rectangular panels may be removably coupled together via each of the magnetized edges.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application 62/436,641, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cooks need an easy way to protect areas of the stove top that are not in use from the oil, grease splatter and food debris that inevitably results from use of one or more burners on the stove. The solution needs to be easy to use and able to accommodate multiple cooking stove top configurations and multiple burner use scenarios. Some recent stovetop burner covers have been designed to increase modularity and to be more permanently held in place, such as those disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2015/0323198 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,132. However, these covers still have a number of disadvantages. First, they are limited by their size and shape, such that they are not adaptable for use with any stovetop surface. Second, they have small features, such as ridges, knobs, hooks, hinges, fasteners, and the like, that accumulate grease and food splatter. Due to the size and shape of these features, they are difficult to clean. Additionally, such features typically cause the stovetop covers to be bulky and difficult to store. Further, when these types of covers are in place, they do not provide a suitable work surface when those particular burners are not in use, particularly because of their shape and because they are generally not heat resistant or fireproof.

Some covers are designed to be semi-permanently placed over the entire surface of the stove top beneath each of the burner grates. However, these are also not adaptable for use with any stovetop surface, have to be removed to be cleaned, and do not protect the grates themselves from grease and food debris.

Some stove top covers are designed for use with a conventional four-burner stove top. These are designed to provide general protection for a stove top when not being used. However, they are typically formed as large pieces, which necessitate storage. Further, they cannot be used while cooking since they are not heat resistant, and they are not easily cleaned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view in accordance with disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a perspective schematic view in accordance with disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 3 is cross section view of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The stovetop burner covers of the invention solve the known problems of the prior art set forth above. They are modular, can be used with any stove or burner shape and size, have a slim design such that they are easy to clean and store, and create a flat work surface when not in use.

Specifically, as set forth in FIG. 1, four stovetop burner covers 102, 104, 106 and 108 are illustrated and form two separate cover assemblies 110 and 112. Specifically, covers 102 and 104 are coupled together to form cover assembly 110, and covers 106 and 108 are coupled together to form cover assembly 112.

Each cover 102, 104, 106, 108 is designed as a panel and is substantially square or rectangular in shape. In one embodiment, each panel 102, 104, 106, and 108 has a downwardly extending lip 118 (see FIG. 3) around its outer perimeter that provides the height necessary to fully cover the stove burner. This allows each cover to completely cover one or more stove burners of any known shape or size. However, each cover may be designed with sufficient height to fully cover the burner without the lip feature.

The cover preferably does not conform to the shape of the burner, but rather is placed on top of the burner(s). For example, each cover 102, 104, 106, and 108 may be placed over top of a conventional, rectangular grate on top of a gas stovetop, or may be placed directly onto the surface of an electric stovetop. In this way, the stovetop burner covers 102, 104, 106 and 108 are modular and may be configured and re-configured to fit any stove or burner.

In a preferred embodiment, each cover 102, 104, 106, and 108 is similarly sized. For example, each cover may generally be about 12″ in width and length and about 0.5″ in height. It is to be noted that the covers may have any size useful for a particular application, and these dimensions are provided only by way of example. In an alternative embodiment, the covers may be of different sizes and shapes to best adapt to a particular type of stove and to meet other hardtop needs the use may have, e.g. creating additional hardtop space to set down cooking utensils.

As discussed above, the covers 102, 104, 106, and 108 are modular. In one embodiment, each cover 102, 104, 106, and 108 is magnetized on at least one of its edges, such as edges 114 of cover 102, illustrated in FIG. 2. In another embodiment, each cover is magnetized on at least two opposing edges. In a preferred embodiment, each cover is magnetized on all four of its edges, such that each cover may be magnetized to another cover to form a cover assembly, such as cover assemblies 110 and/or 112. In this way, only one cover 102, 104, 106, and 108 may be used to cover only certain burners on the stove, or multiple covers, such as 4, 5, 6, or more, may be used at the same time to cover as many burners as is needed by the user. In one embodiment, a number of covers may be used to cover the entirety of the stove top when not in use. Thus, the covers of the invention are highly modular and may be used with any make or model of stove.

The magnetized covers are also advantageous because they may be directly coupled to one another. Some prior art burner covers are designed to be attached to a master piece that covers the entirety of the stove surface. However, this master piece is awkwardly shaped and bulky, and thus difficult to store and clean. Further, the master piece would have to be modified for each type of stove, number of burners, etc. The fact that the magnetized covers of the invention couple to one another not only increases modularity, but it eliminates the need for the master piece altogether. This would also decrease the cost of the overall stove cover assemblies.

Each cover 102, 104, 106, and 108 also has a substantially flat top surface 116, as illustrated in FIG. 3, which is a cross-section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2. This is advantageous because, when in use, the cover may also function as a secondary workspace for the user in addition to the standard kitchen countertop. Each of the covers is preferably formed of a lightweight, heat resistant and fireproof material, such as, for example, tempered glass, heat resistant plastics, Bakelite, Kovenex® manufactured by Waubridge Specialty Fabrics of Chester, Va., and the like. In this way, even when a portion of the burners are in use, such as in FIG. 1, the remaining covers that are in place over the unused burners are not heated. The user does not have to worry about being burned on the unused covers and can actually use that surface as a secondary work surface. In a preferred embodiment, the covers are formed of a hard material (as opposed to flexible) so that they function well as a work surface.

When not in use on the stove, each cover may be stacked for ease of storage. Because they are magnetized on all four edges, the covers will stay together when stacked and can then be stored with minimal space requirements. Additionally, because of their generally rectangular shape and thin design, they will easily fit into most standard dishwashers and dish racks.

As mentioned herein, when all or a portion of the covers are in place over the burners, they create additional counter space by converting stove top space into counter space. When not in use, the covers are also designed to stand up against the stove backsplash or back wall to provide backsplash protection while the burners are being utilized. They can also be used as heat protector pads on counters and tabletops, and potentially as cutting boards, cheese platters, and more.

Moreover, use of the covers reduces or eliminates the need for splatter guards while cooking (e.g., screens placed over the pot or pan or trifold metal sheets that sit upright around the pot or pan). These splatter guards impede the mobility of the pot or pan while cooking, are susceptible to being knocked over while cooking, are not easy to clean, do not fit on all types of stove tops or pots/pans, and do not fully protect the stove top surface from splatter. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A removably covered stove top assembly, comprising: at least one burner; a cover assembly, the cover assembly including, at least two substantially rectangular panels, each of the panels being magnetized on at least one edge, wherein the at least two substantially rectangular panels are removably coupled together via each of the magnetized edges, and wherein the at least two substantially rectangular panels are adapted to removably cover the at least one burner.
 2. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the panels are magnetized on greater than one edge.
 3. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein each of the panels are magnetized on four edges.
 4. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the panels comprises a flame resistant fiber.
 5. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the panels comprises tempered glass.
 6. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the panels comprises Bakelite.
 7. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the panels comprises plastic.
 8. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one of the panels comprises a downwardly extending lip extending around at least part of a perimeter.
 9. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 8, wherein the lip extends downward sufficiently to cover the burner.
 10. The removably covered stove top assembly of claim 1, further comprising a second cover assembly.
 11. A method of removably covering a stove top assembly, the method comprising: placing a cover assembly on at least one burner; wherein the cover assembly includes, at least two substantially rectangular panels, each of the panels being magnetized on at least one edge, wherein the at least two substantially rectangular panels are removably coupled together via each of the magnetized edges, and wherein the at least two substantially rectangular panels are adapted to removably cover the at least one burner.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the panels are magnetized on greater than one edge.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein each of the panels are magnetized on four edges.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the panels comprises a flame resistant fiber.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the panels comprises at least one of Bakelite, plastic, and tempered glass.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the panels comprises a downwardly extending lip extending around at least part of a perimeter.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the lip extends downward sufficiently to cover the burner.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising placing a second cover assembly on at least one other burner.
 19. The method of claim 11, wherein placing a cover assembly on at least one burner comprises joining the two substantially rectangular panels magnetically prior to placing the cover assembly on the at least one burner. 